6 Parau Street, Kaiti, Gisborne
View on mapERO’s Akanuku | Assurance Review reports provide information about whether a service meets and maintains regulatory standards. Further information about Akanuku | Assurance Reviews is included at the end of this report.
Regulatory standards |
ERO’s judgement |
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Curriculum |
Meeting |
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Premises and facilities |
Meeting |
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Health and safety |
Meeting |
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Governance, management and administration |
Meeting |
During the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed non-compliances and is now taking reasonable steps to meet regulatory standards.
JRD Early Learning Centre is a privately owned service. A licence application has recently been submitted to the Ministry of Education to take enrolments for children aged two years and over only. The head teacher is supported in the day-to-day operation by a team of three teachers and an administrator.
The curriculum acknowledges and reflects the unique place of Māori as tangata whenua. Children have opportunities to develop knowledge and understanding of the heritages of both parties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. A language-rich environment supports their learning.
Teachers engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture relationships. Parents are given regular opportunities to contribute to the development of the service and be involved in decision making about their child’s learning.
Staff take all reasonable steps to promote the good health and safety of children enrolled in the service.
Leaders and ERO agree that next steps include continuing to:
During the onsite visit the service has provided ERO with evidence that shows it has addressed the following non-compliance:
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA1]
The next ERO review is likely to be an Akarangi | Quality Evaluation.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
11 May 2021
| Early Childhood Service Name | JRD Early Learning Centre |
| Profile Number | 55445 |
| Location | Kaiti, Gisborne |
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Service type |
Education and care service |
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Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 10 aged under 2. |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80%+ |
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Service roll |
24 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori 17, NZ European/Pākehā 3, Other ethnic groups 4. |
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Review team on site |
March 2021 |
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Date of this report |
11 May 2021 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, November 2018; Education Review, February 2015. |
All services are licensed under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. The legal requirements for early childhood services also include the Licensing Criteria for Education and Care Services 2008.
Services must meet the standards in the regulations and the requirements of the licensing criteria to gain and maintain a licence to operate.
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements. Before the review, the staff and management of a service completed an ERO Centre Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO assesses whether the regulated standards are being met. In particular, ERO looks at a service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
As part of an Akanuku | Assurance Review ERO also gathers and records evidence through:
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
JRD Early Learning Centre caters for 40 children, including 10 aged up to two years of age. Of the 43 children enrolled, 34 identify as Māori. Since the February 2015 ERO report, the centre has amended its licence to provide education and care for infants and toddlers.
The centre is privately owned and operated. One owner oversees financial management. The other owner is responsible for day-to-day organisation, teaching and learning programmes, and the environment.
The previous ERO report identified that further work was required to support teachers' understanding of curriculum priorities and self review. No teacher appraisal process was in place at the time.
There have been some changes in the teaching team since the previous ERO review.
The service has focused on establishing relationships with parents and families. Further development is needed to align the centre's philosophy and teaching practices with appraisal and internal evaluation. Continuing to strengthen and evaluate systems to monitor progress are key next steps.
Aspects of the recently reviewed philosophy are evident in practice. It is underpinned by four key values - respect, whanaungatanga, inspiring children's imagination and peaceful relationships. Children enjoy friendships with each other and confidently and competently engage with their peers in sustained play. Teachers respectfully interact and support children's choices. They sensitively respond to children's interests and needs.
The outdoor-based programme provides good opportunities for children to care for animals and the environment. The environment promotes physical activity. Teachers work alongside children supporting their interests. Open-ended, natural resources contribute to fostering children's imagination, creativity and problem-solving, challenge and risk-taking. Children's independence is promoted.
The centre has a suitable range of learning materials. Resourcing for each day is planned around some children’s interests. Further consideration should be given to the presentation of, and children’s ongoing access to, materials to maximise their interest and opportunities for participation in a wider variety of learning experiences. Regular excursions into the community contribute to the programme. With the number of younger children now attending the centre, leaders and teachers should give consideration to how the environment and teaching contribute to meeting the learning needs of these children.
A carefully considered curriculum planning review in 2017 has led to positive changes in relation to planning. This information is clearly visible to parents and whānau who contribute to the programme.
Teachers regularly notice children's interests and participation in the programme. Individual portfolios effectively capture children's interests and their participation. Teachers should further strengthen assessment, planning and evaluation. This should more clearly focus on identified learning outcomes for individual children and the teacher's role in extending children's learning. Evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum and its impact on individual children's learning should also be a priority.
Infants and toddlers benefit from consistent caregiving. Adults are responsive to children's routines. Children's sense of belonging is actively promoted.
Te ao Māori is strongly evident in the programme. Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori are integrated into daily practice. Children's culture and identity are recognised and valued.
Children requiring additional learning support are identified and plans put in place to assist their participation and engagement in the programme. Teachers liaise with parents and external agencies to promote positive outcomes for children.
Children's transitions from home to the centre are supported with detailed whānau contributions about their child's interests, needs and routines. Teachers should continue to seek ways of sharing information with schools about children to support their successful learning pathways.
Aspects of governance and management require strengthening. Leaders and teachers need to be more familiar with the expectations of the Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Services (2008) to ensure requirements are met at all times. Regular review of centre policies is needed.
Centre personnel are in the early stages of understanding and using internal evaluation for improvement. There is a need to improve understanding of and develop a shared approach to internal evaluation, so staff know what is working well and what needs to improve.
An annual plan that guides the service's operation has been developed. Management should continue to identify who, what and when in relation to key tasks undertaken. The annual plan should be aligned to internal evaluation so staff are able to measure progress against their goals.
A newly developed appraisal framework to guide teacher growth and development is in the early stages of implementation. Appraisal of the owner, focused on her leadership, management and teaching roles, is a priority.
Leaders and teachers should continue to build their capacity to improve outcomes for children by:
strengthening assessment, planning and evaluation practices
implementing appraisal of all staff including the owner
further developing the annual plan
implementing effective review and internal evaluation
evaluating how well the service supports children to access both indoor and outdoor spaces
evaluating how well the service meets legal obligations.
Before the review, the staff and management of JRD Early Learning Centre completed an ERO Centre Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO looked at the service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
emotional safety (including positive guidance and child protection)
physical safety (including supervision; sleep procedures; accidents; medication; hygiene; excursion policies and procedures)
suitable staffing (including qualification levels; police vetting; teacher registration; ratios)
evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.
All early childhood services are required to promote children’s health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
To improve current practice, the early childhood service management should ensure:
soft fall matting is placed under climbing apparatus to minimise potential injuries.
Since the onsite phase of ERO's visit, the centre has provided additional evidence in response to addressing these.
ERO identified areas of non-compliance relating to governance and management, health and safety and premises and facilities. To meet requirements the service needs to improve its performance in the following areas:
annual appraisal for all staff
planning, including risk management, and evaluation of excursions
hazard identification and management, including earthquake hazard prevention.
[Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Centres 2008, GMA7, HS6, HS12, HS17, Reg 46 (c) (iii); Health and Safety practices standard: general]
While onsite, ERO identified policies and procedures that required more clarity. This included updating a child protection policy to meet the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014. The centre has responded to these discussions. A more systematic approach, including dating policies and procedures, should assist with currency and monitoring. To improve, further work is required to understand, put into practice and monitor implementation of these recently updated and amended policies and procedures.
ERO recommends that the early learning service develops a plan that outlines how management and staff will address the key next steps and actions identified in this report. ERO will monitor progress against the plan.
The next ERO review of JRD Early Learning Centre will be within three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
6 November 2018
The Education Review Office (ERO) is the government department that, as part of its work, reviews early childhood services throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. ERO’s reports provide information for parents and communities about each service’s strengths and next steps for development. ERO’s bicultural evaluation framework Ngā Pou Here is described in SECTION 3 of this report. Early childhood services are partners in the review process and are expected to make use of the review findings to enhance children's wellbeing and learning.
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Location |
Gisborne |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
55445 |
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Licence type |
Education & Care Service |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
40 children, including up to 10 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
43 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 25, Girls 18 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
34 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers 0-49% 50-79% 80%+ Based on funding rates |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:3 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:7 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
June 2018 |
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Date of this report |
6 November 2018 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
February 2015 |
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ERO’s overarching question for an early childhood education review is ‘How well placed is this service to promote positive learning outcomes for children?’ ERO focuses on the following factors as described in the bicultural framework Ngā Pou Here:
Within these areas ERO considers the effectiveness of arotake – self review and of whanaungatanga – partnerships with parents and whānau.
ERO evaluates how well placed a service is to sustain good practice and make ongoing improvements for the benefit of all children at the service.
A focus for the government is that all children, especially priority learners, have an opportunity to benefit from quality early childhood education. ERO will report on how well each service promotes positive outcomes for all children, with a focus on children who are Māori, Pacific, have diverse needs, and are up to the age of two.
For more information about the framework and Ngā Pou Here refer to ERO’s Approach to Review in Early Childhood Services.
The overall judgement that ERO makes and the timing of the next review will depend on how well placed a service is to promote positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.
ERO reviews are tailored to each service’s context and performance, within the overarching review framework. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.